HA NOI — Viet Nam’s
taekwondo athletes got off to a flying start on home ground in HCM City,
claiming two gold medals at the 6th World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Junior
Championships’ opening day on Wednesday.

In the championships,
which feature new rules meant to encourage fiercer matches, Tran Thi Ngoc Truc
and Hoang Ha Giang took the women’s feather weight under-49kg title and bantam
weight -46kg, respectively.

Truc and her Thai opponent
both entered the game cautiously, not attacking much, with no points scored.

They were deducted a point
each in the second round for not actively attacking, under the WTF’s new
competition laws, enacted to trigger more fighting.

But the Phu Tho Gymnasium
burst into applause late in the third round when Truc scored her second point
just seconds before the end, allowing her to win.

"I never thought I
would win a gold medal here," said a thrilled Truc. "I just expected
to clinch a bronze."

Truc, who was not a
favourite because of her inexperience, reached the final in style after beating
Croatia’s Marina Sumic 3-2 in the semi-finals, bolstered by her impressive
12-10 victory over South Korean-Canadian title favrourite Yvette Yong.

Giang, the local hope with
three years’ training in Chinese Taipei, edged Korean fighter Choi So yeon 1-0
in the third final of the day.

After playing defensively
in the first two sets, the 15-year-old Giang surprised her more experienced
rival in the third set, taking a hit to score the first point. She continued her
control to claim another point and sealed the win only in the last seconds.

Earlier in the day, Bui
Van Tuyen won Viet Nam a bronze in the men’s feather weight -55kg. Tuyen had
an impressive run, knocking out opponents from Azerbaijan, Spain and Qatar on
his way to the semi where he lost to Thailand’s Vasavat Somswang 3-7.

In the previous world
youth event in 2004, Vietnamese players won two bronze medals.

The sixth annual
tournament, slated to finish on Sunday, features more than 1,000 competitors
from 75 countries and territories.

From the WTF’s new
regulations, players will play three two-minutes rounds, instead of one
three-minute round as before.

And in case of a draw, the
two contenders will fight another sudden-death two-minute round, with the win
going to the contender to earn the first point.

Under the new rules, a
fighter can win by either gaining 12 points first, or being seven points ahead.

Mat dimensions have also
been down-sized to encourage more rapid fighting. Each match will be observed by
one main referee and four corner referees, one more than before. — VNS